Method of protecting or repairing scoured areas of a situs



May 21, 1968 L. A. TURZILLO METHOD OF PROTECTING OR REPAIRING SCOURED AREAS OF A SITUS Filed Jan. 23, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet l m T. N E V O m a J v u A e e L Attorney May 21, 1968 L. A. TURZILLO METHOD OF PROTECTING OR REPAIRING SCOURED AREAS OF A SITUS Filed Jan. 23.

United States Patent 0 3,383,864 METHOD OF PROTECTING OR REPAIRING SCOURED AREAS OF A SITUS Lee A. Turzillo, Bath, Ohio (2078 Glengary Road, Akron, Ohio 44313) Filed Jan. 23, 1967, Ser. No. 617,446 8 Claims. (Cl. 61-38) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Method of protecting a scoured area of an earth situs by injection of liquid grout into a flexible fabric bag, first to expand portions of the bag into a trench provided in the scoured area, and then to fill the remainder of the bag overlying the scoured area. When the grout hardens, the hardened portions thereof within the trench are utilized to anchor the bag in place.

Background of invention The invention relates to grouting and concreting and, in particular, relates to an improved method and means for repairing scoured areas of an earth situs by use of bag means filled with hardenable grout means at the situs.

In the past, various means and methods have been devised for applying protective liners or blankets over scoured areas along canal or river banks, for example. These, however, have been objectionable or impractical for various reasons, such as that prior art protective liners were cumbersome and expensive to install or were ineffective to provide substantially permanent protection against subsequent scouring action. Such Protective liners installed on a slope or bank of a canal, for example, had the tendency to slide or drift out of position under the weights of the same. Spikes or stakes driven into the earth situs were not effective to solve this problem.

S nmmary In accordance with this invention, a flexible porouswalled bag means, in collapsed condition, is laid flatwise upon the sloping area of the situs to be repaired, such as along a river bank, and covering at least one elongated trench of substantial depth in the slope. Hydraulic grout under pressure is injected into the bag means to expand the same, first to conform bottom wall portions of the bag to the walls of the trench, and then to expand the bag means overlying the larger surface area of said bank. Upon solidification of the grout, the larger expanded area of the bag means is firmly anchored to the bank by the hardened protuberance thus formed in the trench. The anchoring effect of the protuberance is greatly enhanced by grout which oozes through the pores of the bag and solidifies in close contact with the walls of the trench, including voids and irregularities therein.

An object of the present invention is to provide an effective method and means for lining river banks or like sloped surface areas to eliminate or prevent scouring, said method and means providing an integral device which effectively anchors the lining to the earth situs.

Other objects of the invention will be manifest from the following brief description and the accompanying drawings.

Of the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary front elevation looking into a sloping bank of a river or other waterway, illustrating completed installation of the protective lining means of the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section taken substantially on the line 2, 2, of FIGURE 1.

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FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section taken in the area indicated at the numeral 16 in FIG- URE 2.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged cross-section corresponding in part to FIGURE 2, but illustrating steps in the method of installation of the improved lining means shown in FIGURES 1 to 3.

FIGURES 5 and 6 are views corresponding to FIG- URES 1 and 2, illustrating a modified form and method of constructing the lining means of the invention in a sloping earth situs.

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section taken substantially on the line 7, 7 of FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary cross-section taken substantially on the line 8, 8 of FIGURE 7.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, there is illustrated a typical installation of a plurality of flat, rectangular, concrete-filled liners or bags 10, 10 for protecting a river bank or like slope B against damage by scouring, such was would result from continuous and/ or repeated movement of water along a river R. For this purpose the bags 10 may be of porous fabric, such as burlap, containing hardened concrete 12 which to a relatively small extent has oozed out through the bag pores in a manner to be described later, to form a protective bonding and sealing layer 13 of hardened concrete all over the outside surface portions of the bag walls. The bags are of generally uniform substantial thickness and of broad lateral size, as for example 10 ft. x 5 ft. x 1 ft., and are laid fiatwise on the bank 11, or in suitable recesses 11a provided therein to have mating edges of adjacent bags in contacting relationship. The hardened oozed-out grout layers 13 along the contacting edges form integral bonds between the adjacent bags. Likewise, the hardened oozedout grout layers 13 form anchoring bonds with contacted surfaces of the earth situs.

Further strong anchorage of the bags 10 to the bank B may be accomplished by extension of concrete filled, laterally elongated U-shaped extensions 15 of the bottom walls of the bags which protrude into correspondingly shaped trenches 16 in the slope B, as best shown in FIG- URES 2 and 3. FIGURE 3 illustrates the bonding extension of the hardened concrete layerings 13 into pores, voids, and crevices in the earth situs, thereby to provide strong anchorage for the respective bags 10 against movement on the slope B in any direction and particularly in downward direction. Suitable reinforcement may be provided in each liner or bag 10, as will be described later.

The method "of producing the above-described slope lining structure 10, 10 can best be described by particular reference to FIGURE 4 as follows:

First, the slope B is prepared to provide a substantially fiat surface area B, having a trench 16 of substantial depth defined by angularly disposed walls in the earth situs E, and calculated to extend to the full length of the respective bag 10.

Next, a bag 10 is extended flatwise in loose, unexpanded condition over the designated surface B to overlie the same and the trench 16, and at least one grout supply conduit or pipe 17 is arranged to extend within the bag in substantial parallelism to the slope B, so that an open lower end of pipe will be at the lowest point within the bag. The upper end of the pipe 17 may have an extension 17a protruding in fluid-sealing relation through the uppermost portion of the bag, for connection with a suitable conduit 18 from an external source of pressurized hydraulic cement grout (not shown).

Pressurized hydraulic grout is now pumped or injected through pipe 17 into the bag 10, first to inflate the lowermost portions of the bag and then, while upwardly displacing water which tends to accumulate in the same,

progressively to expand the bag and conform the bottom wall of the same to the flat surface area B, as well as into conformity with the angularly disposed Walls of the trench, as illustrated in chain-dotted lines and full lines in FIGURE 4.

When the porous bag 10 has been fully expanded, as described, injection of pressurized grout is continued until a relatively small fraction of the grout within the porous bag 10 oozes through the pores thereof to form the outer grout layerings 13 which increase the durability of the bag contents. These layerings 13 also provide for effective anchorage of the bag to adjacent surface areas of the earth situs E by limited extension of the subsequently hardened, oozed-out grout into the aforesaid irregularities in the contacted surface areas.

When the bag it has been fully inflated as described, by filling the same with cement grout, as in the relative condition shown in FIGURES l to 3, the conduit extension 17a may be removed, as by unscrewing it from the upper end of the pipe means 17, preferably While the grout body 20 is in an initial semi-hardened condition.

The process described may be repeated to install or construct a plurality of bags or liners 10 in edge-to-edge contacting relationship over the whole designated area of the slope B, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2.

Referring to FIGURES 5 to 8 of the drawings, there is illustrated a modified form of waterway bank lining means, adapted to be produced by the foregoing method. This form of the invention, however, is designed for use in covering somewhat larger areas of a slope B, where economical use of larger liner bags a, 10a are called for, and as a consequence require provision of an economical reinforced structure to obviate the chance of breakage under the stress of the extra weight of the finished liner units in use over a long period of time.

To this end, the bags 10a, 10a are constructed by the method described, except that the trenches 16a, 16a are provided to extend transversely down the slope B or in other words, lengthwise of the longer dimensions of the bags (see FIGURES 5 and 6). Accordingly, the anchoring ribs or protuberances a, 15a of the respective bags will provide stronger reinforcing support of the respective installed and hardened bags. That is, each hardened bag or liner 10a is not only anchoringly supported and attached to the sloping earth situs (see FIGURES 7 and 8), but is reinforced along its entire length in direction which provides maximum protection against breakage due to compound or combined stresses (compression, tension and shear). The respective liner bags may be further reinforced by leaving the injection pipes therein and/or by inclusion of a wire mesh sheet or frame in the bags (see FIGURE 7).

The above-described bag means and methods provide permanent effective protection against scouring of sloped surface areas, as described. The method may be used, for example, to repair and protect subaqueous sloping areas of an earth situs approaching or supporting bridge or like uprights, for example, where scour could cause partial or total collapse of supporting or supported structures.

Modifications of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention, or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A method as for protecting sloping surface areas of an earth situs adjacent a waterway against scouring, cornprising: providing trench means in a given said surface area of the situs; placing flexible-walled bag means in unexpanded condition flatwise to overlie said given surface area and trench means; injecting flowable grout into said bag means under pressure to expand the bag means, to conform substantial extents of bottom wall portions thereof substantially to said given surface area and to the walls of the trench means; continuing said injection until the bag means is substantially fully expanded by the pressurized grout; and permitting the fiowable grout within said bag means to solidify into a concrete body with portions thereof anchoringly protruding within said trench means.

2. A method as in claim 1, wherein said bag means is placed flatwise at an angle to the horizontal, and said injection of the grout is initiated Within the bag means at the lowermost portion thereof, progressively to fill the bag means with the grout while displacing any water within the bag means outwardly thereof.

3. A method as in claim 2, rigid conduit means being used for said injection of grout and being retained within the bag means to reinforce said concrete body.

4. A method as in claim 1, the steps of the method being repeated to form a plurality of said solidified concrete bodies having mating adjacent side edges thereof in edge-to-edge contacting relationship.

5. A method as for protecting sloping surface areas of an earth situs adjacent a waterway against scouring, comprising: providing trench means in a given said surface area of the situs; placing flexible-walled bag means in unexpanded condition flatwise to overlie said given surface area and trench means; injecting fiowable grout into said bag means under pressure to expand the bag means, to conform substantial extents of bottom wall portions thereof substantially to said given surface area and to the walls of the trench means; continuing said injection until the bag means is substantially fully expanded by the pressurized grout; and permitting the flowable grout within said bag means to solidify into a concrete body with portions thereof anchoringly protruding within said trench means; said bag means being porous walled and said injection of fiowable grout being continued beyond said substantially fully expanded condition thereof to cause the flowable grout to ooze through the pores of the porous bag walls, and to form hardened layerings of grout thereon, at least portions of which extend anchoringly into irregularities in the earth situs.

6. A method as in claim 5, wherein said bag means is placed fiatwise at an angle to the horizontal, and said injection of the grout is initiated within the bag means at the lowermost portion thereof, progressively to fill the bag means with the grout while displacing any water within the bag means outwardly thereof.

7. A method as in claim 6, rigid conduit means being used for said injection of grout and being retained within the bag means to reinforce said concrete body.

8. A method as in claim 5, the steps of the method being repeated to form a plurality of said solidified concrete bodies having mating adjacent side edges thereof in edge-to-edge contacting relationship.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 25,614 7/1964 Turzillo 6l35 1,421,857 7/1922 Store 61-46 3,234,741 2/1966 Ionides 6l37 X FOREIGN PATENTS 68,617 4/1915 Switzerland.

JACOB SHAPIRO, Primary Examiner. 

